Help me get a good price for a Catalytic converter

So I've had a cat sitting around that I pulled off my 1984 BMW 533i parts car, it's the original and quite large. I know prices are up right now, I just want a ballpark idea so I don't take a low ball offer unknowingly. Thanks for any help!

I got a quote from RRcats.com for $401 for the used OEM cat from my 2006 CRV. OEM parts are worth A LOT more than aftermarket. They can tell from photos you submit if it is OEM or not and will quote accordingly. I sent mine off a few days ago and it hasn't arrived for them to look at yet, but I don't expect any issues.

In reply to adam525i (Forum Supporter) :

Go figure, I have a cat removed from an '85 535i I'm trying to unload myself, so this post is perfectly timed! 

Timely post. Thank you.

In reply to pointofdeparture :

I've reached out to a couple of local places here so I'll post what their offers are. If I were in the US it looks like this would be a bit easier to deal with.

Thanks for the responses so far, I'm hoping this goes a decent way to paying for some new track tires this year.

I realize you're not in the US but another vote for RRcats. They have good online guides for what to do and what not to do in order to sell at a good price.

Timely post. I've got a cat in the stuff I got when I bought my Challenge car. 

So I've been offered $700 CAD ($550 US) for the cat shown above, I'm going to take that as they're less than 15 minutes away from me and convenient.

Thanks to those that posted and good luck for those selling!

Here in southern Alabama the theft of catalytic converters has been a big problem as I suspect it is elsewhere. There are laws for the sale of catalytic converters but the local news says there is so much leeway that the yards buy them with almost no questions. Especially susceptible is any vehicle with a bit of ground clearance that the thief can slide under with a sawzall. News reports the theft takes place in under 5 minutes.

adam525i (Forum Supporter) said:

So I've been offered $700 CAD ($550 US) for the cat shown above, I'm going to take that as they're less than 15 minutes away from me and convenient.

Thanks to those that posted and good luck for those selling!

Wow, that's a lot! Where did you list it?

Gosh, I have a spanking new 1990 F-150 cat I do not need.

WTF is that worth?!?!?!

See my post above. I just got my $401 (minus Paypal fees ) from RRcats.com. Just like they said.

I just reached out to a local specialty recycler and they gave me the price, unfortunately one of the 3 section had disintegrated (the first one of three) so I only ended up with $500 CAD for it. Still happy with that though and it was painless.

A week or two ago there were a few articles about cat thefts in our area which is what triggered me selling mine, I thought there would be a bit more scrutiny when I dropped it off but they had my name and phone number and that was good enough. In true scrap dealer fashion he pulled a giant wad of 50s and 100s out of his pocket and paid me cash lol.

So I guess it's the Rhodium that gets you the real money this time around? That's what the newspaper said.

Reviving this thread because I was curious about cats for Challenge car recoup. I've been going through all this effort to part out a donor car, and it turns out I can just cut the manifold pre-cats and get all $900 purchase price of the car back. So on one hand, I can get more money + actual cash in my pocket with less selling effort, but on the other hand I could have a cleaner environmentally-friendly Challenge car and less effort having to build exhaust manifolds to replace the cats. Decisions...decisions...

In reply to maschinenbau :

My fun car came without cats from the factory (Europe loved their smog in the 80's) and somehow made it through our drive clean program here when it came over without them until it was exempt. It's a car that sits most of the time but when I built the exhaust for it I added in a cat as it helps with the smell and really doesn't affect performance all that much.

If the Challenge car is going to be street legal I'd want a cat, if it's not then its usage will be so little that I'd grab that $900 pretty quick and move on. Plus it opens up the option of zoomies.

In reply to maschinenbau :

Keep in mind aftermarket cats still work and are still reasonably priced as they don't have the same precious metal content that OEM ones do.  Add back in one or two $90 high flow cats and retain the environmental-friendliness and lack of stinkiness while still pocketing many hundreds of dollars.

In reply to RedGT :

That's not a bad idea. Selling both pre-cats will put my Challenge budget well over the re-coup limit, but I'd still have to put both aftermarket cats back in the budget. 

I sent a photo of the cat that came with my challenge car to one of the on line companies that buy them. 
 

It's aftermarket, offered me $25. I'm going to see what I can get locally when I get ready to unload all of the scrap metal that came with it. 

Dpfrecycler.com is in Pennsylvania 

Another data point: RRCats offered me $600 for the factory cat from my 1985 535i. Local guys were all flakes and wouldn't give an offer without a part/serial number stamping on the cat.

I have it packed up and am shipping to RRCats today; I cut the front pipes off and verified myself that all the honeycomb sections are intact. Will report back with their actual payout.

In reply to pointofdeparture :

Subscribed to see how this works out. 

I have 4 big catalytics that will probably never go back on. 

Shipped off the cat to RRCats and one of the locals messaged me back to say he would find time to come look at it if I still had it. Told him I shipped it off and he tells me "YOU TOOK $600? THAT'S A $1100 CAT!"

While I'm sure it's worth more than what RRCats offered (they have to make money somehow) I'm skeptical that this guy was ever going to show up and offer me anything near $1100, especially after he stopped responding to my messages in the first place.

I had the thing in the corner of my garage for four years waiting for prices to come up. Yeah a few hundred extra would have been nice but if RRCats pays the $600 they offered, I'll be happy enough. It was worth a whole $185 when I first pulled it off!

Just to close the loop on this: RRCats received my cat today and paid out the $600 quote to my PayPal account with zero drama. Since they covered shipping my only hassle was the packaging and drop off. Overall a happy camper, though it sounds like you might be able to get a higher price elsewhere if you put the effort in.

Just a bump.  I have 5 Subaru cats to scrap.  Any further experience with RRcats?   they are still in business 18 months later so that's always an encouraging sign. 

What documents were required for you to send them in?